Wildlife vertebrate mortality in roads from Santa Fe Province, Argentina

Autores/as

  • Andrés M. Attademo
  • Paola M. Peltzer
  • Rafael C. Lajmanovich
  • Gustavo Elberg
  • Celina Junges
  • Laura C. Sanchez
  • Agustín Bassó

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22201/ib.20078706e.2011.3.783

Palabras clave:

road kills, vertebrate, Santa Fe, Argentina

Resumen

Mortality of vertebrates was monitored on 2 roads (National Road 168; NR168 and Provincial Road 1;
PR1) in Santa Fe Province (Argentina) from October 2007 to August 2008. These roads differed in traffic volume and
surrounding landscape management conditions. We also investigated the influence of environmental variables (mean
monthly air temperature and monthly total rainfall) on the incidence of road kills. Two people monitored the roads on
foot (1 000-m line transects), 3 times a month (36 samples per road). We found 2 024 vertebrate road killed specimens
representing 61 species (7 amphibians, 15 reptiles, 32 birds, and 7 mammals). The toad Rhinella fernandezae was the
most frequently killed species (n = 1307, 64.57%). NR168 had a higher incidence of vertebrate road kills, particularity
for amphibians, whereas birds had a higher incidence of road kills on PR1. We found a positive correlation between
precipitation and temperature with vertebrate road kills on PR1. We suggest that vertebrate road mortality is a very
serious problem for the conservation of the biodiversity in Santa Fe Province-Argentina, therefore implementing
mitigation measures will be necessary.

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Publicado

2011-09-01

Número

Sección

CONSERVACIÓN